Dongguan Street is the most representative historical old street in Yangzhou city. It stretches 1122 meters from Guyun River in the east to Guoqing Road in the west. Dongguan Street used to be not only a major transportation hub for water and land in Yangzhou, but also a center for commerce, handicrafts, and religious culture. The streets are bustling with listings and numerous businesses, offering a wide range of trades and thriving business. There are nearly a hundred businesses including Luchenxing, Youmifang, Xianyu, Baxian, Guaguo, and Zhumu.

The "time-honored" merchants on Dongguan Street include Simei Sauce Garden, which opened in 1817, Xie Fuchun Fragrant Powder Store in 1830, Pan Guanghe Hardware Store in 1862, Xia Guangsheng Tofu Store in 1901, Chen Tongxing Shoe Store in 1909, Qian Dachang Paper Store in 1912, Zhen Taichang Fragrant Powder Store in 1923, Zhang Hongxing Pawnshop in 1936, Qingfeng Tea and Food Store in 1938, Si Liuchun Tea Society in 1940, Xie Feng Nanhuo Store in 1941, Ling Daxing Tea and Food Store in 1945, and Fu Ji Pawnshop in 1946. In addition, there are Zhou Guangxing Hat Store, Heng Mao Oil and Hemp Store, Shun Tai Nan Store. Goods store, Hengtai Xiang color store, Zhudeji flour store, etc. Dongguan Street is a concentrated area of handicraft industry in Yangzhou, with connected stores in the front and back areas covering the entire street, such as Fan Shunxing Umbrella Shop, Cao Shunxing Luoban Old Shop, Sun Zhuchen Lacquerware Workshop, Yuan Taixiang Sugar Workshop, Sun Ji Jade Workshop, Dong Houhe Socks Factory, etc.

The purpose of going to Dongguan Street is to find food, but due to time constraints and taking a look at the street view, some historical sites were not specifically searched for.

Yiyuan Hotel is only over 600 meters away from Dongguan Street. After passing through Wenhe North Road, walk east along Dadongmen Street and Caiyi Street, and soon you will arrive at Dongguan Street.

Dongquanmen is another ancient street in Yangzhou, running east-west, with Guoqing Road to the west and Guanxiang to the east. It is about 700 meters long and runs parallel to Wenchang Middle Road, the main east-west road in Yangzhou city.

The Dongquanmen Historical District is composed of Dongquanmen Street, Sanzhu'an Street, and Diguandi Street. It is adjacent to the Guanxiang Song Site "Fanli Guan" to the east, the Qing Site "Salt Transport Bureau Office" on Guoqing Road to the west, the bustling commercial street on Wenchang East Road to the south, and a large area of old houses from the Qing Dynasty and Republic of China to the north.

On Siwangting Road, there is a Yangzhou city relic sandwiched between the road and the residential area - the Song Dynasty Dacheng West Gate Ruins. I passed by here and took a few photos inside, free of charge.

In addition to traveling, shopping and eating Yangzhou's "morning tea", Yangzhou's Dim sum are really delicious. I searched online before going and found over a dozen tea houses, tea shops, hotels, and noodle shops that offer "morning tea". But most people don't know that the "morning tea" at Yiyuan Hotel is also quite authentic and delicious.

Yangzhou's specialty - Yangzhou lacquerware, is also very famous. Yangzhou lacquerware is one of the traditional crafts with Chinese characteristics. Originating in the Warring States period, flourishing in the Han and Tang dynasties, and reaching its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has complete craftsmanship, exquisite skills, unique style, and is well-known both domestically and internationally. The production techniques of Yangzhou lacquerware mainly include ten categories of crafts: point snail craft, carved lacquer craft, carved lacquer inlaid jade craft, carved lacquer craft, flat ground mother of pearl craft, painted (carved and filled) craft, bone stone inlay craft, hundred treasure inlay, nanmu carved lacquer sand inkstone craft, and ground lacquer painting production craft. We also chose some Yangzhou lacquerware to take home and appreciate slowly.

The traditional lacquerware carving technique in Yangzhou, also known as "picking red", uses a combination of Chinese lacquer and silver beads to create a colored paint. It is applied hundreds of layers on the base according to the process requirements, and then carved with various tools to create various relief effects. The process takes a long time, and the products made are worth collecting.

Picking rhinoceros is a special craft of lacquer carving. The word 'rhinoceros' in the Chinese rhinoceros is related to rhinoceros. In ancient times, there was a mythical creature called the Water Rhinoceros in western China. It had horns on its head, was covered in scales, and had immense strength. It wandered in the water, rolling up clouds and waves like a thousand layers.

Rhinoceros, rhinoceros beasts, and clouds have a special connection. In cloud pattern carving, they are not named "Tiyun", but are named "Rhinoceros" and named "Tixi". The word 'rhinoceros' means sharp, firm, sharp, and sturdy, indicating a close connection between the rhinoceros and the rhinoceros.

Lacquer carved rhinoceros, also known as "cloud carving", is all carved with cloud patterns, without any landscapes, figures, flowers, birds, or fish patterns.

Picking rhinoceros is to first apply a natural lacquer tree dye on the carcass, apply a few layers, then apply another dye, and then apply a few more layers. In this way, some apply several types of dyes, some apply multiple layers, or even hundreds of layers. After drying, use a slanting knife to carve cloud patterns, return cloud patterns, and curl cloud patterns. The containers are all in different shapes such as rectangular or bowl shaped bodies, made of materials such as gold, silver, jade, etc. Through lacquer carving techniques, they focus on cloud pattern carving without any other patterns.

Therefore, lacquer picking rhinoceros is a special carving art in lacquer carving. The lacquerware culture is profound and extensive, inherited and has been passed down to this day.

Rhinoceros skin paint, also known as rhinoceros skin, western skin, tiger skin paint, or polo paint. The method is to mix 65% raw lacquer and egg white milk to form a thick lacquer. Using tools as the starting material, create a concave convex surface while the lacquerware is half dry. After drying, use different colored lacquer layers to apply and grind. Due to the different heights of the lacquer layers, different patterns can be revealed after polishing, producing brilliant colors. Due to the frequent use of red, yellow, and black colors for filling, the texture often resembles rhinoceros skin or tiger skin, hence it is often referred to as "rhinoceros skin" or "tiger skin paint".

Rhinoceros skin "is also written as" Xipi "or" Xipi ". Here, the so-called" rhinoceros skin "is not rhinoceros skin, but specifically refers to a decorative craft in ancient Chinese lacquerware production. It first applies piles of paint of different colors onto uneven substrates, and after the paint dries, it is polished to produce an excellent, shiny, smooth, natural and vivid artistic effect.

The production process of rhinoceros hide lacquer technique includes cutting lacquer, pressing lacquer, molding, adjusting lacquer ash, painting, plastering, mounting cloth (repeating the above three steps), demolding, repeated plastering and polishing of tire bones, painting, pounding, coloring lacquer, gilding, coloring lacquer, and polishing.

Regarding the era of the emergence of the "rhinoceros skin" craft, according to literature records, rhinoceros skin lacquerware mostly appeared in the late Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), so people believe that the emergence of this lacquer craft will not be earlier than the Tang Dynasty. The discovery of this pair of rhinoceros skin gilded copper buckle lacquered ear cups during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD) advanced the appearance of rhinoceros skin lacquerware by nearly 600 years.

The national treasure level cultural relic - Yuan Dynasty Jilan glazed white dragon patterned plum vase, is an outstanding representative of Chinese culture. The plum vase in the collection of Yangzhou Museum is the largest, best shaped, and most well preserved among the three surviving Yuan Dynasty blue glazed white dragon patterned plum vases. As a national intangible cultural heritage protection project, Yangzhou lacquerware decoration technique is an important part of Yangzhou's historical and cultural heritage. It is renowned worldwide for its distinctive national style, rich local characteristics, and exquisite production skills.

Lacquer art white dragon patterned plum vase It is the perfect interpretation of Yangzhou lacquerware craftsmanship for urban treasures. Its specifications are proportionally reduced based on the plum vases in the collection of Yangzhou Museum, and the inner tube is made of natural straw material. There are two forms of craftsmanship expression: one is to use cow bones as decorative materials and use thin relief techniques to depict the vigorous and heroic posture of the divine dragon soaring for nine days. The second is to use natural pearl oysters to create a white dragon playing with pearls, soaring in the blue sky, fully expressing the mighty and majestic momentum of the giant dragon, and reproducing the charm of the Yuan Dynasty's blue glazed white dragon patterned plum vase.

The lacquer art white dragon patterned plum vase was jointly created by Yangzhou Museum and Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory as a gift for the 2500th anniversary of Yangzhou City. It is limited edition and has high artistic and collectible value.

The "Lacquer Sand Inkstone" originated in the Song Dynasty and became a masterpiece in the hands of the famous lacquer masters Lu Yingzhi and Lu Kuisheng in Yangzhou during the Ming Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, its craftsmanship was lost. Developed by Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory in 1979, it was restored in March 1981 and confirmed by experts that Yangzhou Lacquer Sand Inkstone has the characteristics of qualification moisturizing, firm but not stubborn, fine but not slippery, and can produce ink without damaging the hair. It can be compared with Duan and She inkstones in beauty, especially with the advantages of non freezing ink, non water absorption, fast ink production, no damage to the hair, and convenient portability. It is actually a high-end cultural item.

The "Dian Luo" craft lacquerware was created by Jiang Qianli, a master of lacquer art in Yangzhou during the Ming Dynasty. It became famous both domestically and internationally, but was lost in the mid Qing Dynasty. It was developed by skilled personnel organized by Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory in the 1970s. In 1978, the technique of excavating and restoring snails, which had been lost for over 200 years, became a masterpiece in China. The "Dian Luo" lacquerware is made of high-quality shells, luminous snails, stone cassia, and other raw materials, which are as thin as cicada wings. They are carefully processed into small, needle like, and delicate dots, lines, and surface dots that are embedded in the lacquerware body according to requirements. After being painted, smoothed, and polished, a delicate, beautiful, colorful, and light changing lacquerware image is created.

The carving material of the lacquer sand inkstone body is mostly made of nanmu wood from Han Dynasty ancient tombs 2000 years ago. Its wood is delicate, solid, and carefully designed and carved into various patterns, with beautiful images and exquisite craftsmanship.

Dian Luo Gu Nan wood carving lacquer sand inkstone is one of the "Three Wonders" of Yangzhou, which can be appreciated and practical. It is truly a rare and precious treasure that has been passed down through generations.